Whether you love the royals or think NZ should become a republic, we all get a public holiday this Monday, and what better way to celebrate that than with a great gin? We've curated a nice wee list of gins that you can get behind no matter what your stance and celebrate the bonds that truly bind us, a shared a love of gin.
England
While they have properties all over the UK and dominion in each constituent country, England is undeniably the home of the royals with London as their seat of power. From Buckingham Palace to Westminster Cathedral and The Tower to Windsor Castle, monuments to their history and power are everywhere.
Buckingham Palace Dry Gin
Could there be a more perfect gin to toast to the King than one made with ingredient's from his own gardens? This spirit has a unique royal origin, with many of its citrus and herbal notes sourced from botanicals gathered in the Buckingham Palace Gardens. Lemon verbena, hawthorn berries, and mulberry leaves are among the 12 botanicals hand-picked for the gin in the gardens at Buckingham Palace, which span 16 hectares and provide a habitat for 30 species of bird and over 250 species of wild flower.
Category: Classic
Taste Profile: Floral, Herbaceous
Hayman's Old Tom Gin
The monarchy is steeped in all sorts of traditions and history, so why not celebrate with an older traditional style of gin? Old Tom Gin is a botanically-intensive and lightly sweetened style of gin that consequently delivers a balanced and mild undertone which results in a subtle and distinctive gin experience. Hayman's Old Tom Gin is produced from an original recipe from the family archives.
Category: Old Tom Gin
Taste Profile: Citrus, Sweet
Portobello Road Gin No.171 London Dry
On the front of the palate, Portobello Road Gin No. 171 London Dry has a generous slug of juniper, the mid-palate has a sustained, fresh citrus character from our use of lemon, bitter orange and coriander, which then develops into a sweet peppery finish, achieved by the use of liquorice and nutmeg.
Category: Classic
Taste Profile: Citrus, Juniper Forward, Spice
Scotland
Brought into the United Kingdom with the Union of the Crowns in 1603 and a long integral part of British myth-making, the recent revival of the Scottish independence movement following Brexit certainly will be something to watch, best done with a gin in hand to calm the nerves we think.
Edinburgh Gin Seaside
Made with foraged botanicals from the Scottish shoreline, Edinburgh Gin Seaside includes scurvy grass, ground ivy, and bladderwrack. These are used to create a gin that is softly sweet with a distinctive minerality and an expression that is reminiscent of a bracing walk on the beaches around Edinburgh.
Category: Contemporary
Taste Profile: Botanical Forward
The Botanist Islay Dry Gin
This is a bewitching, delectable, and luxurious gin. Its citrus freshness excites and stimulates the taste buds allowing you to experience a starburst of flavours as they explode across the palate. All this from a beaten up old pot still, operated by beaten up distillers on the coast of heaven in the Inner Hebrides on the isle of Islay.
Category: Classic
Taste Profile: Citrus, Floral
Pickering's Navy Strength Gin
Bottled at 57.1% for a pinch more punch. The higher strength actually brings out the sweeter botanicals such as cardamom, anise, and fennel. Affectionately known as the bearskin gin, Pickering's released this expression to celebrate becoming the official gin of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. It even comes with its own little faux bearskin cap!
Category: Navy
Taste Profile: Juniper Forward, Robust/Bold, Spice
Ireland
After the Emerald Isle won their indepedence in 1921 they've gone on to forge quite the name for themselves on the world stage. With both a fierce national spirit and proud tradition of spirit-making it's hard to go wrong when choosing to fill your glass with an Irish-made gin.
Glendalough Wild Botanical Irish Gin
A gin for all seasons, Glendalough's Wild Botanical Gin is made with wild plants sustainably foraged from the Wicklow Mountains around the distillery. What they pick goes fresh into the still within hours of foraging, which are then painstakingly slow-distilled to tease out delicate flavours, in very small batches of less than 250 liters. Some go in the pot, and some are hung in a basket to let vapours extract their essential oils.
Category: Classic
Taste Profile: Citrus, Herbaceous, Juniper Forward
Graham Norton's Own Pink Gin
Small batch distilled in West Cork, not far from Graham’s home. When the weather is right and the flowers are blooming, local ingredients are foraged to round out the 14 botanicals that gives this gin a flavour as distinctive as the man himself. An infusion of roses and cranberry give this gin its final blush and subtle summer rose.
Category: Pink
Taste Profile: Floral, Herbaceous